The present invention relates to a compact high current DC connector and more specifically to connection terminals permitting connection of large gauge cables to electrical devices such as DC-AC inverters.
High current devices such as DC-AC inverters require the connection of large gauge cables. Connectors are located on these devices which are mounted in a wide variety of places such as on or under shelves in a recreational vehicle or boat or behind a seat in a truck. As such, flexibility in the orientation of cable connections is important.
Existing connection terminals for high current devices generally involve the use of studs or lugs located side-by-side on one surface of the device. The studs are threaded metal rods which accept ring-type electrical connectors attached to the ends of the cables. In most cases the rods are connected to copper bus bars and the ring type connectors are held in place on the studs with nuts and washers. Lugs are assemblies which have openings to accept the bare ends of the connecting cables, and generally have a screw or other compression device to apply pressure to a cable end to hold the cable end in the lug assembly. Studs tend to be the more popular connection terminals as installers prefer the use of ring terminals to terminate cables.
One alternative to improve flexibility in cable orientation is to position studs diagonally across a high current device rather than side-by-side. However, this arrangement takes up more space and often allows less than 360.degree. of connection orientation since the cables can interfere with the air flow from a fan or vent in the casing of the device.
One of the problems with existing positioning of high current connectors results because they generally extend from the same planar surface and this constitutes a hazard since a screw driver or wrench can directly short circuit the two connectors. Some form of connector cover may be needed. Such a cover may restrict cable orientations and adds additional cost to the device. Furthermore, with existing connectors the individual connectors are relatively far apart and thus make it difficult to add Electromagnetic Interface (EMI) filtering to the connectors or leads to the connectors. For example, the addition of a common mode choke to most high current connectors is difficult because the connectors are not positioned sufficiently close together to permit a ferrite ring to fit around them.